Toughie No 3766 by Donnybrook
Hints and Tips by crypticsue
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BD Rating – Toughie Difficulty * – Enjoyment ****
A nice start of the week Toughie from Donnybrook, with a bit of a cozy mystery theme and, probably only if you are me, an earworm too!
Please leave a comment telling us what you thought
Across
1a/15d/20d Torture working for an eastern newspaper in 5 Across story (6,2,3,6,7)
MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS A synonym for torture, the usual two-letter ‘working’ and a possible title for an eastern newspaper
5a Writer excluding Mike from this crime novel (8)
CHRISTIE An anagram (novel) of THIS CRImE once you have excluded the letter represented by Mike in the NATO Phonetic Alphabet
10a Golf consistently snubbed in 7 Down county (6)
GALWAY The letter represented by Golf in the NATO Phonetic Alphabet and an adverb meaning consistently without its final letter (snubbed)
11a Stabs brawling Paris don (8)
PONIARDS An anagram (brawling) of PARIS DON – one of those words I know but have no idea how or why
12a Eliot tortured with thoughts about her unfinished work (2,3,10)
TO THE LIGHTHOUSE This Virginia Woolf work is an anagram (tortured) of ELIOT with THOUGHTS HEr (unfinished telling you to omit the R)
16a Attackers wearing Red Baron’s wellies? (8)
INVADERS Anyone else laugh out loud on realising how the solution related to the wordplay? How someone speaking English with a German accent (like the Red Baron) might describe wearing high waterproof boots
18a Potentially chewy meat from dog leg (6)
MUTTON A mongrel dog and the leg side of a cricket pitch
20a Checked return of French marine force (6)
EDITED A reversal (return) of the French word for of and a natural marine force
21a In the morning don’t drink ordinary liqueur (8)
AMARETTO The abbreviation for morning, a phrase meaning don’t drink (3,2) and the abbreviation for Ordinary
22a Maybe verbiage not recalled by immature Nick (10,5)
PADDINGTON GREEN Extra words (verbiage), a reversal (recalled) of NOT and unripe or immature. The name of a police station (nick) that closed in 2018. However, this solution makes me immediately remember a song my Granny used to sing about Pretty Polly Perkins from…. hence the earworm
27a Old suit – pressing demands made? (8)
EXACTION Old or former and a legal suit
28a Green part in smoke that rolls over tongue (6)
GAELIC A reversal of a green area inserted into the short form of something known informally as a smoke
29a Vessel from Switzerland coming in earlier (8)
SCHOONER The IVR code for Switzerland inserted into a synonym for earlier
30a Maybe like Red Baron flier showed the way (6)
TITLED Like Baron Von Richthofen – a small bird (flier) and a simple way of saying showed the way
Down
2d Blue Berets relished investing northern plain (9)
UNADORNED The organisation whose soldiers wear blue berets and part of a verb meaning relished or loved intensely into which is inserted (investing) the abbreviation for Northern
3d Clown is so dejected (11)
DOWNHEARTED If you look carefully at the first word in the clue you will see that the ‘middle’ of the word has a synonym for dejected; as well as being another word meaning dejected, the solution also describes where the word can be found
4d Camilla perhaps put up by Republican circle (5)
ROYAL A reversal (up) of a verb meaning to put goes after the abbreviation for Republican and the circle-shaped letter
6d Liquor Charlie stored in back-to-back houses (5)
HOOCH The letter represented by Charlie in the NATO Phonetic Alphabet ‘stored’ in two abbreviations for house, the first written normally and the second ‘backwards’
7d National flag seen over hospital (5)
IRISH A type of plant also known as a flag and the abbreviation for Hospital
8d Port, one from Anatolia, Mitford-approved? (5)
TURKU A Finnish port – someone from Anatolia and the letter used by Nancy Mitford to say that something was approved or of the right social status
9d Nuisance lowering head before a German artist (7)
EPSTEIN Move the ‘head’ or first letter of a nuisance to second place in the word and follow with the German word for one (a)
13d Gates repaired by officer in shape (7)
GESTALT An anagram (repaired) of GATES followed by an abbreviated lieutenant (officer) gives a shape, form or pattern
14d Monkey caught in Florida location (5)
TAMPA A homophone (caught) of a verb meaning to meddle with (monkey)
15d See 1 Across
17d Start out from London suburb – or edge towards one? (3,2)
END ON A London suburb without its ‘start’
19d See 23 Down
20d See 1 Across
23d/19d 5 Across story headline not deciphered with penetrating article (5,2,3,4)
DEATH ON THE NILE An anagram (deciphered) of HEADLINE NOT into which is inserted (penetrating) a definite article
24d Some Angevin troops opening passage (5)
INTRO Hidden in words two and three of the clue
25d Changing direction in wood makes hand warmer (5)
GLOVE Change the abbreviated direction of travel in a small wood to the opposite one
26d Man-at-arms called out in darkness (5)
NIGHT A homophone (called out) of a man-at-arms or heavily armed mounted soldier
I do like a themed puzzle, but the trouble in this case was that once I’d cottoned on to it, the other linked clues were a shoo-in. This opened the whole thing up and it was game over.
I did though have to check my answers for the blade in 11a and the shape at 13d as both words were new to me.
The Red Baron’s wellies at 16a was my favourite, followed by dog leg at 18a and the Old Bill shop at 22a.
My thanks to Donny and Sue.
Me too Sue. Mrs H and I both had a good guffaw at 16a. I also thought 17d was very good – having lived near there [well, Cricklewood actually] back in the day. Like FrankieM I thought the rather easily established theme provided a good springboard for the rest of it – but no complaints.
Thanks for the blog and to DB for the puzzle.
I enjoyed this. I needed CS’s help to parse 14d and my LOI 13d was a new word for me.
Top picks for me were 16a, 22a, 25d and 3d now that I can see how clever it was.
Thanks to CrypticSue and Donnybrook.
Very entertaining stuff though, as others have said, the mystery-themed answers pretty much wrote themselves in providing masses of checkers for the remaining clues.
I’m not sure if the setter is telling us some secrets about the royal couple in 4d/6d.
I knew the 11a word but didn’t know that it could be used as a verb so that needed checking.
I liked 18a, 22a and 3d with my favourite the LOL 16a.
Many thanks to Donnybrook and CS.
Again, once I had 4a and cottoned onto the theme it proved to be a fairly steady fill, although 4a itself didn’t come until the 2nd pass. I didn’t know the 12a work but sussed it from the anagram, the 11a stabber was new to me as was the shape at 13d. As Toughies go I found this not too exacting. I’m another for whom 16a brought a LOL 😂 moment.
Many thanks to Donnybrook and CS
Yesterday’s “Toughie”, which I enjoyed, was my fastest to date, to which I would have awarded 1* for difficulty. So I cannot agree with a similar rating for today. There was a significant number of easy clues apart from the 2a writer and related clues, which went quickly from enumeration with scarcely a look at the wordplay or even the crossing letters, though nice to get the Eastern newspaper as confirmation. However, for some reason many of the other others took me a long time to see, although I only needed to come here for two. With the attackers, for example, took so long Long that,rather than guffaw, I geoaned “surely not?”. Not very satisfying, although I have done puzzles by this setter with a different pseudonym in a different place which are truly excellent. Favourite was.12a; having guessed the 10 letter word from crossing letters I decided that Eliot was part of the anagram folder rather than the author, I was way delayed by the fact that, when he died, an American writer was partway through an unfinished novel about that 10 letter word!
Thank you cs for the hints and answers. You’ve answered all my queries except:-
20a – the last four letters still not understood
I’ve got it now.
I don’t know if I enjoyed the puzzle or not. I got 16a wrong and didn’t complete 28a.
Thanks to setter and hinter
The marine force is a tide
The French ‘of’ reversal is from the back not the front followed the reversed marine force
Thank you, both
Was on for my fastest ever Toughie solve and then hit a wall with the dagger and the port in the NE. Never heard of the Mitfords but Mr G enlightened me a little – still didn’t understand so I eventually got it by searching ‘Ports’ with 5 letters in my Chambers Crossword dictionary.
Speaking of which – in the intro there are several chapters from setters with examples of types of clues etc. One of which I just cannot fathom even tho the answer is over the page. Can any kind soul help???
Clue: Art master (8)
Answer: TEACHEST
thanks in advance and of course to Donnybrook and CS
Hi M
Thou art master, therefore, thou teachest.
Good one Clicker, I was thinking an informal teacher teach and est as old English for is, but it is more French.
Your explanation makes much more sense
Thats what I thought but wasn’t happy with it. Now I have seen Clicker’s reply – I would never have got it in a million years!!
Thanks to you both
Agree with Frankie & Gazza that the theme rather revealed itself & though not particularly exacting (still more than a 1* for the likes of me) the puzzle was much more of a challenge than yesterday. 11a rang a bell but checked it anyway & both 8&13d were new to me but gettable from the wordplay.
Lots to like including 10 (Connemara Links best in county),12,18&22a but my pick of the clues was the very clever 3d just edging out the LOL German wellies.
Thanks to Donny & to Sue.
I could not see why 3 down worked, ffs, bit grumpy now I get it, not sure if I like it or not! Too busy being grumpy! Otherwise this went in fairly easily but I did struggle on 16 across for a bit given I did not get 3d!!!
Well thanks Sue et al.
Stabbed by Col. Mustard with a dagger in the billiard room? Poniarded by Mrs White for being too easy? There’s themes for you I suppose. Either no-one gets any of it ever, or everyone gets all of it in a trice. With this theme it’s especially criminal (see what I did there).
Re 1 15 20, if you are ‘on The Telegraph’ then you are ‘working for The Telegraph’. That was the idea, anyway.
Cheers all, have a nice rest of.
D Brook
A smidge harder than yesterday’s, but not much, and that’s mainly due to the new words at 6d, 11a and 13d, coupled with the sneaky but very funny 16a. How often has he turned up twice in one puzzle?
The theme and links definitely helped rather than hindered for a change. Very enjoyable overall. Thanks to CS and Donnybrook
Needed a bit if help with a couple of pasings, so thanks CS. Also some new words – but 13d i was familiar with. I have started trying a few crosswords in German ( i live there ) and 13d is the german word for the definition. Thanks to the setter – i enjoyed the linked crime novels.
Good evening
Not often I attempt a Toughie, so by crikey, am I chuffed to have actually completed one. Several solutions required looking up, and the ingenious parsing of 3d was ower clivvor for the likes of me!
Good fun, though! Thank you to Donnybrook and to CS.
Late to comment as only “finished” this last night in a rare visit to Toughie land. Having said that 8d and 28a eluded me so I needed the hints. Not too fussed about 8d but I should have got 28a as I thought of the cig for the smoke! Consulted Mr. G about 14d and believe it or not it referred to a monkey being caught in Tampa so I missed the clever parsing. Got 3d and 16a but didn’t write them in until checking the blog as I couldn’t begin to parse them but what fantastic laugh out loud clues!
Many thanks to CeeSoo and superb work from D Brook!!!!